Former world number five Eugenie Bouchard testified in US District Court in Brooklyn that she screamed in pain in a locker room fall at the US Open in 2015, US media reported. "I screamed, 'Oh my God, it burns!" Bouchard told jurors, according to the New York Post. The 23-year-old Canadian was testifying in her lawsuit against the United States Tennis Association, which operates the Grand Slam tournament at Flushing Meadows in Queens, New York. Bouchard's suit, which seeks unspecified damages, claims the USTA was at fault for applying a "slippery, foreign and dangerous" cleaning substance. She hit her head in the fall, suffering a concussion and pulling out of the tournament. The USTA has argued that Bouchard, who had played a late mixed doubles match, should have known that the room would be being cleaned at 11 pm, when her fall occurred. A lawyer for the governing body had told jurors on Tuesday that the cleaning spray was only applied after management thought all the players had ...

Despite a fraud conviction and sex scandal, Italy's 81-year-old former leader Silvio Berlusconi has one last political victory in his sights in general elections less than two weeks away. Temporarily banned from returning to public office himself, the billionaire media mogul still hopes to influence the country's political direction by leading a right-wing coalition in the March 4 polls. "I'm pretty confident of the result of the election and going to form a government with our centre-right allies," he told a rally of youth activists from his Forza Italia party in Rome yesterday, in a typically outspoken address. "I can tell you how to stay young," he added. "I'll tell you the brand of my suppositories." Berlusconi "wants to win one last time before retiring," his biographer Alan Friedman was quoted as saying by the Corriere della Sera newspaper. The three-time former prime minister heads a coalition made up of Forza Italia and two far-right forces: the League and Brothers of ...

Jose Mourinho described Scott McTominay as "fantastic" in response to his decision to select the young midfielder ahead of Paul Pogba for Wednesday's Champions League last 16, first-leg draw with Sevilla. Pogba had been left out of the starting line-up for the goalless draw with Mourinho apparently unhappy after the French star withdrew from last weekend's FA Cup win at Huddersfield Town citing illness. That followed criticism from Mourinho of Pogba's recent performances, with the Portuguese making a statement by selecting McTominay, 21, alongside Ander Herrera and Nemanja Matic in midfield. Mourinho later complained that there had been too much focus on Pogba before and after the match, and not enough on a player making his second Champions League start. "In my pre-match interview I had four questions and three were about Paul, and Paul was not even playing. That's a bit strange," he said. "If I was one of you (journalists), I would ask if the Manchester United manager agrees that ...

Defending champion and top seed Elina Svitolina toiled for more than two hours to reach the Dubai quarter-finals while second seed Garbine Muguruza had to wait until 2 a.m. to complete her opening victory. Play ran exceptionally late at the event, with lengthy, slow-moving matches to blame. Svitolina took two and a quarter hours to overcome stubborn resistance from China's Wang Qiang 6-1, 5-7, 6-2. Muguruza, the runner-up in Qatar last weekend, had to wait out a three-hour epic as Daria Kasatkina beat British seventh seed Johanna Konta 4-6, 7-6 (8/6), 6-2 before the Spanish second seed got on court in the early hours of Thursday. But Muguruza at least then picked up the pace to defeat American CiCi Bellis 6-3, 7-5, a match which took one and three-quarter hours and ended just before 2 a.m. Svitolina had to save nine of 11 break points against world number 46 Wang who entered the field after the withdrawal of Petra Kvitova, the Qatar champion. "I was a little bit angry at myself that I

The new freezers at Somalia's only forensic laboratory can store thousands of DNA samples, although for now there are just five. The big hope is that they could be the start of a revolution in how the troubled Horn of Africa country tackles its widespread sexual violence -- provided some daunting hurdles are overcome. The first sample arrived at the start of the year taken on a cotton swab from the underwear of a woman, a rape victim from the village of Galdogob. It was wrapped in paper and driven 250 kms to the Puntland Forensic Centre in Garowe, capital of semi-autonomous Puntland, slipped into a protective glass tube and placed in one of the three ultra-low temperature fridges. If DNA ID can be teased from the sample, this would be a crucial step in convicting the woman's rapist. No longer would it be a case of he-said-she-said, in which the survivor is less often believed than the accused. Two decades of conflict and turmoil have made Somalia a place where lawlessness and sexual ..

The White House is weighing additional sanctions against Russia, senior administration officials said Wednesday, pushing back against allegations that Donald Trump has been a soft touch on Moscow. Speaking on condition of anonymity, officials said a "task force" has been set up to address potential meddling in the 2018 congressional elections and work is underway to introduce sanctions in response to Moscow's 2016 campaign. Underscoring one step, one senior administration official said that Washington has already warned governments around the world that they could face sanctions if they carry out "significant transactions" with the Russian military. That includes NATO ally Turkey, which has publicly announced the purchase of a Russian S-400 air defense missile system. A second official said that "a couple of big countries" were reconsidering their purchases as a result. Those type of sanctions were part of a package of measures passed by Congress approved last July, that were opposed .

Indian-American Raj Nair, executive vice president and president of Ford North America has been asked to leave the Detroit-based motor company following allegations of misconduct at work place, the company said today. Nair, 54, "is departing" from Ford effective immediately, the company said, noting that the decision follows a recent internal investigation into reports of inappropriate behaviour. The review determined certain behaviour by Nair was inconsistent with the company's code of conduct, the statement said. "We made this decision after a thorough review and careful consideration," said Ford President and CEO Jim Hackett. "Ford is deeply committed to providing and nurturing a safe and respectful culture and we expect our leaders to fully uphold these values," he said. In an accompanying statement Nair regretted the incident. "I sincerely regret that there have been instances where I have not exhibited leadership behaviors consistent with the principles that the Company and I ...

Democratic Senator Robert has written a letter to the US Ambassador to India to ensure that, son of the US president, who is visiting India, is not given any special treatment by the diplomatic mission, except for the one required by the security. Menendez's wrote a letter, as he said that he was concerned about a speech tomorrow at business summit by Donald J Trump Jr which may send a "mistaken message that he is speaking on behalf of Donald Trump". The 40-year-old son of the US President is currently on a business trip India. He is executive vice president of the Trump Organization which is developing a number of high profile properties in various parts of the country. "Given the potential to confuse Mr Trump's private business visit with having an official governmental purpose, I write to ensure that the US embassy presence in India will have no role in supporting Mr Trump or the Trump Organization during his time in India, other than that necessary to provide any security support

Former UN secretary-general Ban Ki-moon has said the dialogue between the two Koreas that began during the Winter Olympics must be kept alive so it can hopefully lead to reconciliation, peace and the denuclearisation of North Korea. Ban, who was South Korea's foreign minister before serving 10 years as UN chief, told the UN Security Council that the "current reconciliatory atmosphere must be nurtured by continuing engagement of both South and North Korean authorities." He said the United States can also play "a crucially important role" by engaging with North Korea, as South Korean President Moon Jae-in has suggested. On Tuesday, the Trump administration disclosed that Vice President Mike Pence was set to hold a history-making meeting with North Korean officials during the Olympics, but Kim Jong Un's government canceled at the last minute. A potential high-level interaction between the U.S. and North Korea, which would have broken years of estrangement between the two countries, ...

President Donald Trump floated the idea of arming teachers and promised more stringent background checks on gun owners as he hosted an emotional meeting with students who survived last week's mass shooting at a Florida school. "I just want to say before we begin, because I want to hear you, but we'll be very strong on background checks, very strong emphasis on the mental health of somebody," Trump told the students from Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in a meeting in the White House. Trump also suggested some teachers could be trained in the use of firearms as a deterrent to would-be gunmen. "This would only be obviously for people who are very adept at handling a gun," said Trump. "It's called concealed carry. Where a teacher would have a concealed gun on them, they would go for special training and they would be there, and you would no longer have a gun-free zone." "A gun-free zone is, let's go in and let's attack," he said. "There are many ideas that I have, many ideas that ...